# How do you make a to-do list you will actually use? Canonical: https://zestasy.com/wiki/to-do-list-you-use/ Section: Zestasy Wiki > Mindset · Updated: 2026-10-13 · Publisher: Zestasy *Zestasy Wiki: our reference answers. Checked for facts and sources; less curated than the magazine.* Split it in two: a short list for today, with three to five items, and a separate someday list for everything else. Write each item as a physical action starting with a verb ("email Marco about Saturday", not "Saturday"). And once a week, look at the items that keep getting carried over and either shrink them, schedule them or cross them out for good. Most to-do lists die the same way. They start as a hopeful page, grow into a long scroll, and end up as a monument to things we didn't do. At that point the list stops being a tool and becomes a source of mild dread, and we quietly stop opening it. A list you will actually use looks different. It is smaller, more specific, and a lot more honest. ## Two lists, not one The single biggest change is to separate *today* from *someday*. - **Today:** three to five things you genuinely intend to do before bed. Written fresh each morning, or the evening before. - **Someday:** everything else. Ideas, errands, projects, the shelf that needs fixing. It can be as long as it likes, because you don't have to look at it every hour. The today list is a plan. The someday list is a storage cupboard. Mixing them is how a plan turns into a cupboard you have to rummage through all day. If you finish the today list, lovely. Pull one more thing across from someday, or stop. Finishing a list is a much better feeling than chipping at an endless one. ## Verbs, not nouns "Dentist." "Car." "Mum's birthday." These are topics, not tasks, and topics are hard to start because you first have to work out what the task is. Write the first physical action instead: - "Call the dentist to book a check-up." - "Look up tyre places near the office." - "Order the cookbook Mum mentioned." A verb-first item tells your future self exactly what to do, which removes a surprising amount of friction. If you can't think of the first action, that is itself the task: "Spend ten minutes working out what the car needs." ## Make items the right size Big items sit on lists for weeks. "Sort out the spare room" is a weekend, not a task. Break it into pieces that fit into a normal gap in the day: "Clear the chair in the spare room", "Take the bag of clothes to the charity shop". The test is simple: could you do it in one sitting, without needing to plan first? If not, it needs cutting down. ## Deal with the items that never move Every list has them. The item that has been carried over eleven days running, rewritten each morning with growing resentment. Once a week, look at these honestly and choose one of four fates: - **Shrink it.** Maybe the real first step is smaller than you thought. - **Schedule it.** Give it a slot in the diary, like an appointment. - **Delegate or ask.** Some tasks are stuck because they need someone else. - **Delete it.** If it has survived three weeks of not mattering, it may not matter. Crossing it off on purpose is as satisfying as doing it. If the stuck items are things you want to do but keep avoiding, that is a slightly different problem, and we look at it in [why we put off things we want to do](https://zestasy.com/wiki/why-we-procrastinate/). ## Keep the format boring Paper, a notes app, the back of an envelope: it matters less than people think. What matters is that the list lives somewhere you will see it, and that writing a new one takes under five minutes. Elaborate systems with colours and tags are a pleasant hobby, but they can become a way of organising the work instead of doing it. ## FAQ ### Should routine things like the gym go on the list? Only if they keep slipping. If something already happens reliably, it doesn't need a reminder. If it keeps getting skipped, putting it on today's list with a time can help. ### What about the big, important project? Put the next concrete step on today's list, not the project. "Draft the first paragraph of the proposal" is something you can do; "proposal" is something you can only worry about. ### Morning or evening to write the list? Whichever you will stick with. Some people like closing the day by writing tomorrow's list, so they can stop thinking about work. Others prefer a fresh look with the first coffee. ### Is it cheating to add something you've already done, just to cross it off? Not at all. It is a small, harmless pleasure, and it gives an honest record of what the day actually contained. ## Related - [How do you focus on one thing at a time?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/doing-one-thing-at-a-time/) - [How do you get through a boring task?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/getting-through-boring-tasks/) - [Why do we put off things we actually want to do?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/why-we-procrastinate/) - [How do you keep going on a long project with no deadline?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/long-project-no-deadline/) - [How do you keep promises to yourself?](https://zestasy.com/wiki/keeping-promises-to-yourself/) - [All Mindset answers in the Wiki](https://zestasy.com/wiki/#mindset)